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Joyful Jazz! Christmas with Verve, Vol. 1: The Vocalists & Joyful Jazz! Christmas with Verve, Vol. 2: The Instrumentals – Collection Includes Unreleased Oscar Peterson Song and a Rare Version of John Coltrane’s “Greensleeves“

Verve is proud to celebrate the holidays with two heartwarming Christmas releases – Joyful Jazz! Christmas with Verve, Vol. 1: The Vocalists, and Joyful Jazz! Christmas with Verve, Vol. 2: The Instrumentals, as part of their 60th Anniversary. Both releases, which feature tracks across five decades from some of the finest vocalists and instrumentalists from Universal Music‘s family of labels including Verve, Blue Note, Impulse!, Decca, GRP, Cadet, Argo, and more, will be available separately on CD and digitally.

Verve is proud to celebrate the holidays with two heartwarming Christmas releases – ‘Joyful Jazz! Christmas with Verve, Vol. 1: The Vocalists,’ and Joyful Jazz! Christmas with Verve, Vol. 2: The Instrumentals,’. The collections feature tracks across five decades from some of the finest vocalists and instrumentalists from Universal Music’s family of labels including Verve, Blue Note, Impulse!, Decca, GRP, Cadet, Argo, and more. (PRNewsFoto/Verve)

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – Diana Krall with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra

It Must Be Christmas – Judy Holliday with the Gerry Mulligan Orchestra

Peace On Earth – Peggy Lee

(There Is No Place Like) Home For The Holidays – Betty Carter

I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm – Billie Holiday

I’ll Be Home For Christmas – Diane Schuur

Peace – Norah Jones

White Christmas – Ella Fitzgerald

‘Zat You, Santa Claus? – Louis Armstrong & The Commanders

Winter Wonderland – Shirley Horn

Silent Night – Dinah Washington

The instrumental tunes are just as entrenched in these traditions – it seems like every classic holiday film features a family gathering with a loved one at the piano playing Christmas standards. Here, The Instrumentals portray exciting takes on songs like “Silver Bells” from Kevin Eubanks, “Frosty The Snowman” as interpreted by Roy Hargrove and Christian McBride, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” performed by the Bill Evans Trio, Stanley Jordan‘s version of “Silent Night” and Kenny Burrell‘s take on “The Little Drummer Boy.”

Other standout performances includes the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Mark Whitfield, Tom Scott, who contributes “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” a song originally created for the four-time Academy Award-nominated film Meet Me in St. Louis’ soundtrack, as well as Nelson Rangell, Jimmy Smith, the Lionel Hampton Sextet, and Eliane Elias. Two additional tracks stand out on The Instrumentals release. Oscar Peterson‘s “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” is previously unreleased and available here for the first time; it was recorded with Buddy Bregman and his orchestra in 1957 during Peterson’s sessions for his Verve album, Soft Sands. The collection also includes a rare alternate version of John Coltrane Quartet‘s “Greensleeves,” which previously had only been available on the Deluxe Edition of Trane’s album, Ballads.

For more music to get you in the mood for the holiday season, UMe has you covered with their “Christmas” playlist. The 70-song collection features some of the biggest songs and artists in the holiday canon and pairs timeless classics from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Vince Guaraldi Trio with modern staples from Michael Bublé, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, Diana Krall, Dave Koz, Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Sam Smith, Mary J. Blige and many others for an eclectic and festive playlist sure to be the perfect soundtrack for your holidays. Stream via Spotify here: http://smarturl.it/UMeXmasPlaylist